Newborn nursing -- normal or not?

[Liziz]

I'm hoping yall can share some thoughts on if this is all in the realm of normal or not...

DD2 arrived last week, my milk has been "in" for about 5 days now. My breasts still feel quite full most of the time. I've been fully embracing the "allow baby to nurse whenever she wants, for as long as she wants" -- she's nursing 9-10 times a day.

However, it feels like she's spitting up a lot. After a couple feedings a day, she spits up what seems like everything she just ate -- it's almost like she hiccups 5-6 times and a big mouthful of milk comes out with each hiccup. She'll stop nursing, release my nipple and seem content, then within a minute or two, she spits it up. She doesn't seem terribly upset as she's spitting up, but once she finishes she's always upset but wants to go right back to nursing. I'll let her nurse more, but then she'll spit up again. It sometime feels like this vicious cycle where I'm just pouring milk down my baby's throat just to overfill her and make her spit it up again. She is also spitting up long after she's done eating -- 20-45 minutes. It's what I'd expect to be more of a "regular" amount, and looks curdled and thick. We are keeping her upright or at an angle after feedings (either in our arms, or in a rock n' play if we need to put her down).

She's having the right amount of wet and dirty diapers so I feel like she's getting enough ultimately in the day, but I'm uncomfortable with the amount of spitting up. Also, for the past few days if she's not sleeping, she's only content nursing -- if she's not nursing she's upset/crying. I'm fine with letting her nurse a lot -- everything I've read always says you can't overfeed a breastfed baby -- but with the spitting up, I just keep wondering if she's just getting too much in her belly at once? She'll often feed for ~10-15 minutes, then switch to dozing/comfort nursing -- however, I'm having multiple let-downs right now...so I'll notice her switch to comfort nursing, then 2 or 3 minutes later I'll have another let-down and the milk starts flowing again, so she starts drinking full-force again. I've tried to pull her off the breast when she switches to comfort nursing/I sense another let-down, but she gets upset and frantically tries to get back on the breast. DH really wants to get a paci to pop in her mouth once she starts comfort nursing (to avoid the second let-down and milk associated with it that might be overfilling her), but I've been resistant b/c even though she's been doing great at nursing, it's still so early and I don't want nipple confusion (I'm tempted, though). Other things of note are that I can often hear rumbling in her belly while she's eating (sounds like gas bubbling or something), and she does often choke/gasp while she's nursing, shortly after let-down.

Sorry this is so rambling/disorganized -- sleep deprivation! I'm just wondering -- does this all sound like normal newborn stuff? Or like there's some issue going on? If so, what and how to help her?

[SnuggleBuggles]

I bet it is a growth spurt. Just keep nursing as you are. It'll ease up! Mine were both "happy spitters" so fat all sounds normal and familiar.

[ArizonaGirl]

Either a growth spurt, or you have over active let down in which case try block feeding, focusing on one side per session.

[mmsmom]

It doesn't sound out of the realm of normal but block feeding could help. IMHO, a lactation consultant who will come to your house is well worth every penny & often reimbursed by insurance. They will be able to tell you by before feed & after feed weights exactly how much baby is getting. It helps take the guessing out of it. In my case the consultant was able to determine DD was getting the majority of the milk from one side in the first 10 minutes and the remaining 10-15 minutes she was staying on was just comfort nursing. I also did have over active let down and once I started block feeding the tummy rumbles and spitting up decreased.

[Simon]

My Ds3 sounded similar. He was so full milk was pouring out the side of his mouth, but he wanted to keep nursing and was frantic if we took him off the breast. We did try a paci but he didn't like them.

I took him to the Dr. for something else but we discussed this, too. The Dr. said most likely he just didn't have his full vs. hunger cues sorted out yet and yes, he was "overnursing" but that it wasn't harmful and was good for milk supply. They did also mention that if I had a lot of foremilk, then he might not feel satisfied b/c he wasn't getting the fatty hindmilk, so he was literally full of milk, but didn't feel full. I did block feeding and it straightened itself out around week 3 I think. He spit up quite a bit until 6-8 weeks but didn't have reflux or any long term issues.

ETA: I'd also keep an eye on weight gain. I just remembered that with Ds3 we did see an LC around day 4-5 because although he was still in the normal range for weight loss, I was concerned that he seemed to be nursing, triggering let down, and then doing more of that light sucking to trigger another let down without ever moving into the deep nursing that empties the breast. The LC worked with me and we used a nipple shield just for a few nursing sessions to help Ds3 move into the other nursing mode. Once we worked wth the LC, he started gaining weight immediately but he had done so much to trigger multiple letdowns I did have an oversupply for a while.

[BunnyBee]

Watch her poop color and consistency as well as weight gain. Could be a growth spurt, could be overactive letdown, could be reflux, or she could be reacting to something in your diet. Or any/all/none.

[gymnbomb]

I saw a somewhat silly sounding recommendation somewhere for parents who think their babies are spitting up everything they just ate. Put however much she eats (or a couple of ounces since she is EBF and still tiny) of water in a cup, the dump it out (on the counter, floor, a towel, whatever) and see how much it really looks like. Then you will have a better idea of if she is really spitting up a large percentage of what she eats, or if it just seems like a ton because it is always coming out of her mouth.


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[okinawama]

My second born nursed constantly, and like you said, if he wasn't nursing, he was crying. He rarely slept. It ended up that he had reflux. The actual act of keeping liquid moving down his esophagus helped keep the acid down, and the milk acted as an antacid, and helped soothe his throat...so he nursed constantly. Like your LO, my little guy would spit of frequently as well, but he was obviously in pain after.

this is a link from the babywhisperer forums on reflux, maybe worth a look.
http://www.babywhispererforums.com/i...hp?topic=654.0

Goodluck! I hope things get easier! I STILL develop a pit in my stomach and become anxious when I think of all the crying (and crying and not sleeping, and crying and not sleeping) that took place when DS2 was an infant, and he's 4.

[pastrygirl]

^^ just like the PP, both of mine had reflux and nursed constantly (I would get maybe 30 minutes between feedings for the first several months). . They both also had posterior tongue tie, so they weren't getting as much milk as it seemed.

[AngB]

I agree it could be reflux or oversupply/too much foremilk (often with too much foremilk they have green frothy'ish poop.) I didn't notice a difference on reflux meds with DS2, we switched ped's and the one we stuck with said that he really doesn't do meds unless they are miserable while they are spitting up because the reflux meds don't actually really prevent spitting up but it's more for their comfort. (At least I think that was the gist of it, it was almost 3 years ago, but I remember that we tried meds for reflux and they didn't help much and he wasn't surprised.) You can ask to go in for a weight check or in our area a lot of the breastfeeding groups with the hospitals will let you weigh them. It does sound pretty normal to me though.